February 11, 2025 • 36 mins
What if you could experience a deeper spiritual connection that transforms your life? In our latest episode, we promise to guide you on a journey of faith and discovery at First Baptist Church Powder Springs. We're thrilled to share our church's recent growth, highlighting the surge in new members and baptisms, and the incredible impact your generosity has on local and international missions. Plus, get ready for Jersey Sunday, a fun-filled celebration of unity and faith that feels like a spiritual Super Bowl, complete with a special First Baptist Church jersey symbolizing our collective commitment to mission work.
Explore the timeless wisdom of the seven "I am" statements of Jesus, where each statement offers a transformative insight into His divine nature and addresses the fundamental needs of humanity. We'll unravel the profound connection between Jesus's declarations and the eternal, unchanging nature of God, tracing them back to Moses's encounter with God in Exodus. These insights illuminate how understanding Jesus as the "I am" can liberate us from life's burdens, offering a perspective that promises spiritual freedom and fulfillment.
Join us as we celebrate Jesus as the cornerstone of our existence, recognizing His roles as the light of the world, the good shepherd, and the resurrection. We'll reflect on His power to nourish and guide us, urging our listeners to cultivate a personal relationship with Him as the source of truth and sustenance. Our heartfelt conversation invites you to embrace this transformative faith, share it with others, and join in a collective expression of love and worship through song. Experience the joy and empowerment that comes from recognizing Jesus's profound impact on our lives.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, good morning.
Welcome to First Baptist Church, powder Springs.
Put your hands together ifyou're excited to be in church
this morning, man, it sure isgood to see everybody.
Thank you for being here, outof all the places you could be,
that you followed God here,because we believe that he
brought you here.
We believe he's got a word foryou this morning from his word.
If you're online, we just wantto say thank you for tuning in,
(00:23):
because we believe that God'sgot a word for you this morning
too, and it's been great to meetso many of our first-time
guests this morning.
Can we put our hands togetherfor our first-time guests one
more time?
Just the way that we get towelcome them, the way that we
get to love on them, and we arejust so thankful we get to be
just in the part of a littlerevival right now.
It's like a page out of thebook of Acts.
(00:44):
This is just last Sunday, withour Next Step cards and even our
Next Step lunch.
Last Sunday, over 25 peopletold us that they wanted to join
our church, become members here.
Five people said they wanted tobe baptized and two people got
saved and gave their life toJesus.
Put your hands together for allthat God is doing, all that God
is doing, man, we are sothankful.
(01:05):
We'd love to say that, man, weare not about numbers here.
We're not about numbers, butevery number represents a name,
every name represents a life andevery life represents an
eternity.
So we believe that this isn'tnumbers, this is people.
Can I get an amen?
That's what we believe that Godwants to do.
Also, we talk about a lot ofthings that God is doing.
We only do what I'm about to doonly one time a year.
(01:27):
Only one time a year, becausewe believe that this is what God
loves to do through you.
I just wanna show you how Godused you to give generously last
year.
Last year, our budget was$2,358,977.
Last year, you gave to ourbudget $2,652,555.
(01:49):
To our Annie Armstrong offering, which is to take the gospel to
all of North America.
You gave $14,525.
Lottie Moon, our goal was$100,000, which is taking the
gospel literally, to the nationsof the world.
You gave $109,663.
You also gave just to reachpeople in the Powder Springs,
(02:13):
cobb County, paulding County,the counties surrounding us, in
local mission $20,493, whichmeans total 2024 given.
You gave $2,797,996.
Put your hands together for allthat God is doing through you
(02:34):
and that's what we believe.
We believe again, these aren'tjust pennies, these aren't just
dollars, these are.
Every dollar is an opportunity,because every dollar is used in
some way, shape or form toreach people with the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
And we never force anybody, wenever twist arms, we never guilt
(02:54):
, we never shame.
We just say what the word ofGod says is that you just be a
cheerful giver and you just givewhatever the Lord lays on your
heart.
If you believe that, say yeah,here we go.
I just wanna say to everybodyhappy Super Bowl Sunday.
How many of y'all are wearing ajersey, your favorite team shirt
?
Raise your hand, let's go.
The church is the only placethat Georgia and Florida and
(03:16):
Tennessee and Alabama and Auburnand Georgia Tech and all these
different SEC ACC teams can gettogether and we like each other.
Amen, and we actually like eachother.
So how many of y'all tonightare going for the Philadelphia
Eagles?
You're going for the Eaglestonight?
Raise your hand.
I think about seven out of theEagles are Georgia Bulldogs.
I think six or seven areAlabama, former Alabama players.
(03:40):
So if you're for the Eagles, wejust say roll dogs, roll dogs.
There we go.
How many of y'all are going forthe Kansas City Swifties
tonight?
Raise your hand if you're a bigTaylor Swift fan.
There we go.
There we go.
We know the Eagles are playingagainst the NFL the refs tonight
.
We all know that.
Just kidding, just kidding.
We'll see if they three-peattonight the Kansas City Chiefs,
(04:00):
We'll see what happens.
But welcome, this is our JerseySunday.
We do this one time a year, andone thing that God just laid on
our heart is we wanted to makeour own First Baptist Church
Powder Springs jersey.
So we did it and we put 99 onit.
Why?
Because we believe that Jesusleft the 99 to find me and Jesus
left the 99 to find you, andwe're all a part of one team.
(04:21):
We're all a part of Team Jesus.
Can I get an amen?
We're all a part of Team Jesustogether, and so I want you to
know this week you can pre-orderyour own First Baptist Church
Powder Springs jersey If youwould like one.
We're only offering pre-ordersales this week.
From what I understand, I thinkthey're just 50 bucks cheapest
jersey you'll ever buy.
But we're not making any moneyoff of them.
(04:43):
We're just charging what theycost.
So we'd love for you to.
You can go online fbcpsorgslash jersey or the QR code.
It'll be on our social media,it'll be on our website.
Whatever, we would love for youto get one and to be a part of
all that.
And why are we doing it?
Because we believe the focusthat God has given us this year,
our 2025 focus, is that wewould develop our people and
(05:08):
develop our ministries for localand global mission.
In other words, that God woulduse you and that God would use
me, that God would use us sothat other people can come to
know Jesus like we've come toknow Jesus.
If you believe that, say yeah,and that's what we want for God
to do.
Let's pray and we'll dive inGod's word.
Heavenly Father, we love youand God.
(05:28):
We, just as we love to prayevery Sunday, god, we just
proclaim that we are your people, god, that this is your word
and Father, that you are our Godand God, that we want your work
because we are your church andGod.
We, we want your work becausewe are your church and God.
We want your will to be done sothat your glory can come.
God, we love you and we prayAll these things in Jesus' name,
(05:51):
and all God's people said, andall God's people said Amen, here
we go.
How many of y'all have everheard of the seven wonders of
the world?
We all heard of the sevenwonders of the world before.
Did you know that these are theseven, what they would call the
seven ancient wonders of theworld?
The Great Pyramid of Giza, theHanging Gardens of Babylon, the
Statue of Zeus, the Temple ofArtemis at Ephesus, the
(06:13):
Mausoleum, the Colossus, theLighthouse at Alexandria.
These are all of the sevenancient wonders of the world.
Only one of them actually stillexists, that's the Great
Pyramid, and even some otherswere even debated whether or not
they really existed, like theHanging Gardens of Babylon.
They got back together in 2007because all of the other ones
(06:34):
were destroyed besides thepyramid.
And now, in 2007, they saidhere are the new seven wonders
of the world the Great Wall ofChina, petra in Jordan, christ
the Redeemer in Brazil, machuPicchu which is just fun to say
in Peru, chichen Itza in Mexico,the Roman Coliseum in Italy and
the Taj Mahal in India.
Took me all week to learn those.
(06:54):
So there you go.
Those are the new, modern sevenwonders of the world.
Now, isn't it interesting that,out of the ancient seven wonders
of the world, only one of themstill exist, and out of the
modern, there was a day thatnone of them existed.
In other words, often what theworld calls wonderful is not
eternal.
Often what the world callswonderful is not eternal.
(07:15):
See, the world loves to seethings that human hands have
made, but when we worship whathuman hands make, then we don't
worship what is eternal, whatonly God can make out of his
power.
And so what I want us to seethis morning is a better list of
seven than the seven wonders ofthe world.
(07:37):
In fact, there are a lot ofthings that are in list of seven
.
You ever thought about this?
There are seven continents onthe earth.
There are seven days ofcreation, seven continents on
the earth.
There are seven days ofcreation seven days in every
week.
There are seven colors in everyrainbow.
There's only seven musicalnotes in the musical scale.
Snow White had seven dwarfs andTaco Bell had a seven layer
burrito amen.
So there's a lot of sevens.
(07:59):
When you score a touchdown, getan extra point.
You get seven points.
But this morning, what I wantto talk to you about is from the
series that we're calling theRed Letters.
We're talking about it allmonth long, all February, what
Jesus really said, what Jesusreally taught.
Do we understand what Jesusreally said?
Do you understand what Jesusreally meant by what he said?
(08:22):
This morning I wanna show youwhat we see in God's word that's
called the seven I amstatements of Jesus.
Everybody say seven, the seven Iam statements of Jesus.
Jesus made these sevenstatements, beginning with I am,
that are absolutelylife-changing.
Why are they life-changing?
They're life-changing becausejust those seven I am statements
(08:44):
tell you everything you need toknow about Jesus and they also
answer the seven biggest needsin your life today and
throughout all of your life.
In fact, those seven I amstatements from Jesus they
basically boil down to becauseJesus is the I am, you don't
have to try to be.
You're free from trying to be.
(09:05):
You're free from trying to beeverything in your own life.
You're free from trying to beeverything in everybody else's
life, because you can't do it.
Jesus is the I am because youare the I'm, not because I am
the I'm not.
So where did these seven I amstatements even come from?
The first time we see that Godused the name I am was in Exodus
(09:30):
, chapter three, verse 14.
God said to Moses I am who I am.
And he said say this to thepeople of Israel that the I am
has sent me to you.
In other words, this was Moses.
First 40 years in Moses' life,he was in Egypt.
Second 40 years of Moses' lifehe was in Midian.
This is the end of his second40 years and the beginning of
(09:52):
his third 40 years.
God came to him at the age of 80.
And God said Moses, you don'tknow me, but here I am and I'm
gonna save you and I'm gonnacall you to lead my people out
of slavery in Egypt, through thewilderness and into the
promised land.
And Moses said God, I don'tknow who you are and obviously
(10:13):
you don't know who I am, becausenobody would ever call me to do
something as huge as that.
And God said I'm not callingyou because of who you are, I'm
calling you because of who I am.
And Moses said I'm not callingyou because of who you are, I'm
calling you because of who I am.
And Moses said who are you?
Who do I tell them that you are?
When I go to Israel and sayfollow me?
When I go to Pharaoh and I say,let him go, who do I tell them.
(10:34):
And God said just tell him thatI am, the I am, and the I am has
sent me to you.
Do you know what I am means?
The I am means that God iseternal.
In the Hebrew, I am could betranslated I have been or I am
or I will be.
That God is eternal, he is theGod of yesterday and today and
(10:56):
tomorrow, that God has existedall the way into eternity past
and that God will always existall the way into eternity future
.
There has never been a timethat God did not exist, which
means that you can trust himbecause he's always been there.
And not only has he always beenthere, he's always been there
for you.
If you believe that, say yeah,we see that God, not only is he
(11:18):
eternal, but God is alsoself-existent, which means that
he does not depend on anythingor anyone else in order to exist
.
Like I do, like you do, I thinkabout my kids, right, I think
about my kids and they would notbe alive if it was not for me,
but mostly my wife.
Because what is the name of thegame of parenting?
(11:38):
It's not thriving, it'ssurviving.
Can I get an amen?
Like you're?
Just keeping them alive is allyou're doing, but God is
self-existent.
God doesn't find life inanything or in anyone else.
God himself is life.
He's self-existent and you canbelieve.
Also, the I am means that Godis unchanging, which means he's
consistent, which means God isnot moody and God is not Judy
(12:02):
Attitudy.
Can I get an amen Like Goddoesn't have bad days and he
doesn't have good days, but Godis always the same.
God is who he is, yesterday,today and forever.
In fact, god told Moses inExodus 3, this is to be my name
forever and thus I am to beremembered throughout all
generations in this way.
(12:23):
So could it be that Jesus gavehis I am statements to fulfill
that passage of scripture thatforever God would be known as
the I am, because Jesus came onthe scene saying that he is the
I am.
In John, chapter eight, verse 58, jesus said to them this is
(12:43):
Jesus talking to the Pharisees,or the religious people of the
day, the people that did notbelieve in Jesus, but they just
wanted religion in their life.
Jesus said to them truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham
was I.
Am you ever heard someone saythat Jesus never really called
(13:04):
himself God in the Bible?
This is Jesus not just sayingthat he's God.
This is Jesus saying that he isthe God who also showed up to
Moses at the burning bush,calling him to go and free the
Israelites from slavery.
In other words, jesus is sayingI am the eternal, unchanging,
self-existent God.
(13:24):
In the very next verse, becausethe Jews understood what he was
saying.
I am the eternal, unchanging,self-existent God.
In the very next verse, becausethe Jews understood what he was
saying.
The very next verse, they werepicking up stones to stone him
for blasphemy.
Or my favorite, john, chapter 18, verse four through six.
This is when Judas had gotten aband of soldiers and Jewish
warriors and council people andthey came to arrest Jesus.
(13:47):
He said they came with weaponsand torches and all these type
things.
And they came and it says thenJesus, knowing all that was
about to happen to him, as theycame to Jesus, jesus just boldly
stepped forward to them and hesaid who are you looking for?
Whom do you seek?
They answered him and they saidwe're looking for Jesus of
(14:08):
Nazareth.
And Jesus said to them I am he.
Judas who betrayed him, wasstanding there with those people
and I love this.
And when Jesus said to them Iam he, they all, the soldiers
and these religious people,those who are coming to
overpower and arrest Jesus.
The Bible says that they alldrew back and they fell to the
(14:32):
ground.
Why?
Because we, in that passage,get to see the power of the I am
of Jesus.
If you see it, say yeah, we getto see the power of the I am of
Jesus.
So when I read these I amstatements to you, just know
that these are Jesus'sdeclarations of who he is and
what he promises to do and whathe promises to be in your life.
(14:58):
Jesus is saying these arepowerful enough to give you life
and to answer the second, theseven biggest needs of your life
.
Here we go.
Jesus said I am the light ofthe world.
Everybody say light.
He said I'm the light of theworld, verse 12.
And again Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
(15:18):
world, whoever 12.
And again Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness but will have
the light.
Everybody say light, but willhave the light of life.
I wonder if you're coming heretoday and maybe you're someone
that you feel like, that you'restuck in darkness, maybe you
feel like you're battling sin,battling depression.
(15:39):
Maybe you feel really confusedin darkness.
Maybe you feel like you'rebattling sin, battling
depression.
Maybe you feel really confusedin life.
Maybe you feel like you'refacing uncertainty, you're
feeling lost, you're unsureabout the future.
Maybe you feel trapped in guiltor in shame.
Maybe you feel trapped in thedarkness today of addiction and
you just can't break it.
You just can't get out of itand you feel all of that anxiety
or even suicidal in your life.
And you just can't break it.
You just can't get out of itand you feel all of that anxiety
or even suicidal in your life.
(16:01):
And you are wondering how do Iget answers, how do I get
clarity?
How do I get out of this?
How do I escape my darkness,the darkness of our life?
I need you to hear me say thatJesus is not only saying that he
is the light of the world.
He's also saying that he is theonly one who can lead you out
of your darkness.
(16:22):
He's the only one who can leadyou out of your darkness.
Who is he saying this to?
There was a woman in that daywho was known as an adulterous
woman, possibly the mostadulterous woman of that town of
that city that everybody knewabout.
And finally the Pharisees, thereligious people, caught her and
they got her and they were allgoing to stone her because they
(16:42):
felt like they were so righteousthat they had the right to
stone her in front of everyonebecause of her sin.
And Jesus, out of his love,swooped in and Jesus walked over
and he stopped them and he saidwhoever is without sin, let him
be the one to cast the firststone.
They all dropped their stonesand they left.
Why?
Because Jesus came in as thelight of the world and he
(17:05):
stepped into her darkness, justlike he stepped into your
darkness, just like he steppedinto my darkness, so that he
could be your light and my lightand our light.
Put your hands together forJesus, as he is the light of the
world.
So I would encourage you.
What do you do about this?
You ask Jesus to be your light.
Jesus, would you shine yourlight on the darkness of my life
(17:28):
?
Whatever that situation lookslike for you?
You call on Jesus and you askhim to shine his light into your
darkness.
Secondly, jesus said I am thedoor.
Everyone say door John 10, nine.
Jesus said I am the door.
Everyone say door.
John 10, nine.
Jesus said I'm the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved and will go in and out
(17:48):
and find pasture.
Who is he speaking to?
Maybe you're here this morningand you've come and you just
feel rejected.
Or maybe in your life you'venever fully felt accepted by
anyone, wherever you go.
Maybe you always feel like anoutsider.
Maybe you don't typically feelwelcomed or wanted or invited.
(18:10):
Or maybe you're someone hereand you've tried so many paths,
other religions.
Maybe you've tried self-help,maybe you have even tried
success, but you still feel lostand Jesus is saying to you that
he is your door.
Back then the shepherds would becalled a door, would be called
a gate, because when they wouldtake their sheep out and they
(18:32):
would be wandering thewilderness for they would be
grazing the pastures or tryingto find water and literally when
the sheep would stop and theywould gather them all together,
the shepherd would put them backagainst a rock or back against
a tree or whatever it might be,and the shepherd would sleep or
rest in front of them so thatwolves couldn't get in to the
(18:53):
sheep and that sheep couldn'tget out to the wolves.
In other words, they called theshepherd, the door or the gate,
and that's who Jesus is is.
He is protecting you from Satangetting to you and he's
protecting you from you gettingto Satan.
He's protecting sin to you.
He's protecting you from sinfrom you and he is protecting
you as your door.
(19:14):
In other words, jesus is notjust a door, he is the door door
.
In other words, jesus is notjust a door, he is the door.
He's the only door.
He's the only door that opensup a relationship with God.
He's the only door that opensup the way into the kingdom of
God, the way into the kingdom ofheaven, the way into eternal
(19:35):
life, the way that you werecreated to live and I was
created to live.
And here's what Jesus iscalling us to do, because he's
the door.
He's just asking us to continueto walk up to him, to continue
to approach him, to continue tocome to him, to continue to see
him, as he is the only way foryou to live the life that God
(19:57):
has created you to live.
Number three Jesus said I'm theway, I'm the truth and I'm the
life.
Everyone say life.
He said I'm the way, I'm thetruth and I'm the life.
John 14, six Jesus said I'm theway, I'm the truth and I'm the
life.
And he said no one comes to theFather.
Jesus said, except through me.
(20:19):
What gives Jesus the right tosay that, out of all religions,
out of all faiths, out of allways to believe, out of all
things to be a part of differentreligions, what gives Jesus the
right to say that he is theonly way, that he is the only
truth, that he is the only life?
I'll tell you why.
Because Jesus is the only onewho has stepped down out of
heaven, who has taken on humanflesh.
(20:40):
Jesus is the only one who livedyour life in your place,
sinlessly and fully righteously.
Jesus is the only one who wentto the cross and he suffered and
he bore your sin.
The Bible says that he becameyour sin.
The Bible says that he washumbled and he was humiliated.
And the Bible says that he hungon the cross and he died for
your sin.
And the Bible says that he washumbled and he was humiliated.
And the Bible says that he hungon the cross and he died for
(21:01):
your sin.
And he died for my sin.
He was put in a grave for threedays and he rose from the dead
three days later, he's the onlyone who was raised from the dead
.
Put your hands together becauseJesus is the way, he's the truth
and he's the life.
And he speaks this to peoplethat maybe you've come here
today and you're just strugglingin your life with just doubt or
(21:22):
skepticism, or maybe justspiritual confusion.
Maybe you wonder am I really onthe right path, on the real
path to experience God?
Maybe you feel lost in thechaos of different worldviews
and religions and faiths.
Maybe you come today as aperson struggling what to
believe and how to live.
Maybe you just noticed that ourworld is full of self-help and
(21:46):
self-discovery andself-improvement, but you notice
that Jesus just doesn't saythat he is a way and he doesn't
call you to find your own way,and he doesn't even ask you to
find your way to him.
But Jesus says that he is theway, jesus says that he is the
truth and Jesus says that he isthe life and that no one comes
(22:07):
to the Father who is God, theFather but through Jesus.
And so here's what I wouldencourage you to do today with
this is just call on Jesus andjust talk to him and say Jesus,
I believe that you are my way,jesus, I believe that you are my
way, jesus.
I believe that you are thetruth, jesus.
I believe that you are my life,and there are oftentimes in my
life that I need to confess toJesus.
(22:27):
Say, jesus, I'm sorry for thetimes that I live my own way,
that I don't believe your truthand that I don't live your life.
Number four very quickly, jesussaid I'm the good shepherd.
John 10, 11,.
He said I am the good shepherd.
He said the good shepherd laysdown his life for the sheep.
Aren't you thankful?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusgave his life for you before he
(22:50):
asked you to give your life tohim, that Jesus gave your life
for you before he asked you togive your life to him?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusloves you enough that he would
lay his life down for you?
That asked you to give yourlife to him?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusloves you enough that he would
lay his life down for you?
That is Jesus dying for yoursin.
John 10, 14,.
He said I am the good shepherd,I know my own and they know me.
In other words, maybe you'rehere today and you have felt
(23:13):
abandoned in your life, or maybebefore, you have felt betrayed,
or maybe you've felt loneliness, maybe you're struggling with
trust issues or maybe evenwondering does God really care?
Maybe you feel unworthy becauseof the mistakes that you have
made, maybe you're just goingthrough a major life decision
and I think that there issomething so critical in our
(23:33):
life just to call on Jesus asour good shepherd and to say
Jesus, I just need you to loveme right now, jesus.
I need you to protect me rightnow, jesus.
I need you to empower me rightnow, jesus.
I need you to provide for meright now, jesus.
I need your care right now,jesus.
I believe this in Jesus.
(23:54):
I need it in my life, righthere, right now.
Number five Jesus said I am thebread of life.
Everyone say bread.
Jesus said I am the livingbread that came down from heaven
.
If anyone eats of this bread,he will live forever and if the
bread that I will give for thelife of the world is my flesh,
(24:17):
in other words, jesus isspeaking to those of us, as I
have felt this way in your life,and I'm sure you have too that
you feel empty, unfulfilled,dissatisfied with life, maybe
chasing success, chasingromantic relationships, chasing
material possessions and stillfeeling like there's something
(24:38):
more, never having enough.
Maybe you've come today andyou're struggling with addiction
, constantly searching forsomething to fill that hole, to
fill that void in your life.
Maybe you just feel spirituallydry or just simply distant from
God.
And Jesus is saying I'm yourbread.
Jesus is saying I'm yourspiritual nourishment.
(25:01):
Back then bread was the mainstaple of all their food.
They didn't have all thegrocery stores and all the
restaurants and all thedifferent options like we have
today.
They would typically eat a fewfruits and a few vegetables and
a lot of bread for theirsustenance.
And Jesus is saying I am allthat you need.
Jesus is saying it's not gonnabe the drink, it's not gonna be
(25:21):
the drug, it's not gonna be theromance, it's not gonna be the
money, it's not gonna be thesuccess, it's not gonna be
anything that's going to satisfyyou.
He said you're gonna try it allyour life and you're gonna come
down to the end of your lifeempty, because I'm the only one
that can fulfill and I cansatisfy the soul that I've
(25:42):
created within you, that canonly be filled by me.
Jesus is saying that he is thebread of life.
Number six Jesus saying that Iam the vine.
Everyone say vine.
John 15 one says I am the truevine.
Jesus said and my father is thevine dresser.
John 15, five.
Jesus said I am the true vine.
Jesus said and my father is thevine dresser.
John 15, 5,.
Jesus said I am the vine and you, speaking about us, his
(26:03):
disciples, you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I inhim, it is he that bears much
fruit.
For apart from me, you can donothing.
Maybe you come here thismorning and you just feel burnt
out, disconnected, spirituallyweak, struggling in your faith,
(26:25):
feeling far from God, trying todo on your own, but you feel
exhausted.
Maybe you just want to godeeper and deeper and deeper,
but you just feel like you can't.
Jesus is saying the only waythat you can be empowered to
truly live this life, foreverything that you are going
through, and yet still to bearfruit, even through the
(26:46):
difficulty, even through thesuffering, even through the
struggling, even through thehurt, even through the doubt.
Jesus is saying you're thebranch, I'm the vine.
Stay connected to me, stay inmy word, stay in prayer to me,
because Jesus is saying eventhrough all of the craziness, I
still wanna bear fruit throughyou, I still want to empower you
(27:10):
.
I still want you to experienceme and I want you to minister to
others on my behalf and for myname.
And last number seven.
Jesus said I am theresurrection and the life.
Everyone say resurrection.
Jesus is the resurrection andthe life.
John 11, 25.
Jesus said to her I'm theresurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, thoughhe die yet, he shall live.
(27:33):
He's talking to Martha and Mary.
Lazarus had just died.
Jesus is there at the tomb.
And then Jesus says Lazarus,come forth.
And he came forth and he wasreally dead.
And the way we know he wasreally dead was they actually
said man, he stinks, he comeswalking out of the grave.
Man, he stinks.
And Jesus literally raised himto life.
(27:58):
Just like Jesus alone can raiseyou from the dead the day that
you die, who else can do thatfor you?
Who else has promised that foryou?
Only Jesus is the resurrectionand the life.
Are you coming here today andyou're wondering what happens
after you die?
Are you trying to fiteverything into this life
(28:20):
because you feel like this isyour only shot?
Have you lost a loved one andyou feel like you'll never see
him again?
Are you facing a disease thatyou're seeing the end of your
life approach.
Jesus is speaking to you thismorning and Jesus is saying I am
your resurrection and I am yourlife, and I want you to see all
(28:44):
of this put together.
I've actually never seen it putin this order before, but this
is just the order that God gaveme for you today.
I want you to see this.
I want you to ask yourself, asthis is the beginning of our
life, that Jesus gives us lightto be able to see him and to see
the way all the way throughbecoming our door.
Then he becomes the way, thetruth and the life.
Jesus becomes our good shepherd, and then Jesus satisfies us,
(29:07):
and then Jesus empowers usthrough spiritual fruitfulness,
and then Jesus assures us thathe is our resurrection and our
life.
My question for you is thiswhere are you on this trajectory
of life?
What is Jesus?
Which one is Jesus saying toyou today?
Which one is he saying to youtoday?
Because he's your great I am.
(29:29):
Jesus fulfills every need.
He fulfills every desire, need.
He fulfills every desire.
He is your and he is my.
Everything.
He is the I am.
But I also want to ask anotherquestion who you know in your
(29:50):
life?
What names would you put toeach of these that Jesus could
use you to go and tell them thathe is exactly what they've been
looking for?
And who is it that you couldminister to and who is it that
you could witness to?
(30:13):
Because these seven I amstatements are what our entire
life is built off of, thefoundation of our life.
Just like I told you earlier,seven, there are only seven,
musical notes, that every song,every symphony, every concert,
all the way from Amazing Graceto Handel's Messiah, to the
(30:34):
sound of music, to rock and roll, country music, pop music, hip
hop and soul, even just rightnow, I want you to hear just
these seven musical notes, thatevery song is built off of this
(30:56):
musical scale that the band'sjust going to play for you right
now, as God designed music andevery song is built off of just
(31:23):
seven notes.
Your life is built off of sevenstatements that Jesus has made.
I'm going to ask you just tobow your heads and close your
eyes and the band continues toplay.
And wherever it is in your life, and the band continues to play
Wherever it is in your life, Ijust want you to tell Jesus
Jesus, I believe that you are mylight of the world, my door, my
(31:48):
way, my truth, my life.
Jesus, you're my good shepherd.
Jesus, you're my bread of life.
Jesus, you're my vine.
Jesus, you're my resurrectionand you, you're my resurrection
and you're my life.
Maybe you're here this morningand you've never really, truly
fully given your life to him.
Right here, right now, I wannagive you that opportunity.
(32:09):
I can't pray this for you and Ican't save you, but I wanna
help you through this prayerthat you can pray to God, and
God promises that he'll on thecross for my sins and I ask you
to forgive me of all my sin.
And God, I believe that Jesusrose from the dead and rose
again from the dead, and I askyou to forgive me of all my sins
and I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins.
(32:30):
And I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins.
And I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins and I ask you to on
the cross for my sins and I askyou to forgive me of all my sin.
And God, I believe that Jesusrose from the dead and he's
alive and I give my life to him.
I follow him with my life, andthe Bible says if you confess
with your mouth that Jesus isLord and believe with your heart
(32:52):
that God raised him from thedead, you will be saved.
So, right here, right now, callon Jesus to be your Lord, your
God, your Savior, youreverything.
He is your great.
I am God.
We thank you for that truth.
We thank you for this promiseof salvation, god, we believe it
(33:13):
and we pray these things inJesus' name, and all God's
people said Amen.
Would you put your handstogether for anybody that prayed
that prayer that gave theirlife to Jesus?
Today we just want to saywelcome to the family, welcome
home.
We believe that God saved youand there is right now, on the
back of the chair in front ofyou.
There's a next step card.
I would encourage you just tograb that.
(33:34):
Fill it out With.
There's a next step card.
I would encourage you just tograb that.
Fill it out with any decisionthat you have to make.
Maybe you want to give yourlife to Jesus.
Maybe you need to get baptized.
Maybe God is calling you tomake any other of those
decisions.
You can do that on the card.
You can come and hand it to meor take it to our next step
station or put it in any of ourblack boxes around here.
We just want to help you inyour walk with Jesus.
Can we stand together?
(33:54):
We're gonna pray one more timebefore we worship him together.
Let's pray right now.
Heavenly Father, we love you,jesus.
We thank you that you are ourgreat I am, jesus.
Thank you that you are thelight of the world, jesus.
Thank you that you're our door,jesus.
Thank you that you're our way,our truth and our life, jesus.
Thank you that you're our bread, jesus.
(34:16):
Thank you that you're our goodshepherd, our vine, jesus.
You are the resurrection andthe life.
We give you all of the glory.
We believe in the power of youbeing the great I am.
We believe that that changesour lives forever.
It is the foundation of ourlife every single day, and we
pray that we would believe inyou in that way and that we
(34:37):
would tell others about you aswell.
Jesus, we love you.
We sing to you In Jesus' name.
We pray.
Let's sing to him together.
Well, good morning.
Welcome to First Baptist Church, powder Springs.
Put your hands together ifyou're excited to be in church
this morning, man, it sure isgood to see everybody.
Thank you for being here, outof all the places you could be,
that you followed God here,because we believe that he
brought you here.
We believe he's got a word foryou this morning from his word.
If you're online, we just wantto say thank you for tuning in,
(00:23):
because we believe that God'sgot a word for you this morning
too, and it's been great to meetso many of our first-time
guests this morning.
Can we put our hands togetherfor our first-time guests one
more time?
Just the way that we get towelcome them, the way that we
get to love on them, and we arejust so thankful we get to be
just in the part of a littlerevival right now.
It's like a page out of thebook of Acts.
(00:44):
This is just last Sunday, withour Next Step cards and even our
Next Step lunch.
Last Sunday, over 25 peopletold us that they wanted to join
our church, become members here.
Five people said they wanted tobe baptized and two people got
saved and gave their life toJesus.
Put your hands together for allthat God is doing, all that God
is doing, man, we are sothankful.
(01:05):
We'd love to say that, man, weare not about numbers here.
We're not about numbers, butevery number represents a name,
every name represents a life andevery life represents an
eternity.
So we believe that this isn'tnumbers, this is people.
Can I get an amen?
That's what we believe that Godwants to do.
Also, we talk about a lot ofthings that God is doing.
We only do what I'm about to doonly one time a year.
(01:27):
Only one time a year, becausewe believe that this is what God
loves to do through you.
I just wanna show you how Godused you to give generously last
year.
Last year, our budget was$2,358,977.
Last year, you gave to ourbudget $2,652,555.
(01:49):
To our Annie Armstrong offering, which is to take the gospel to
all of North America.
You gave $14,525.
Lottie Moon, our goal was$100,000, which is taking the
gospel literally, to the nationsof the world.
You gave $109,663.
You also gave just to reachpeople in the Powder Springs,
(02:13):
cobb County, paulding County,the counties surrounding us, in
local mission $20,493, whichmeans total 2024 given.
You gave $2,797,996.
Put your hands together for allthat God is doing through you
(02:34):
and that's what we believe.
We believe again, these aren'tjust pennies, these aren't just
dollars, these are.
Every dollar is an opportunity,because every dollar is used in
some way, shape or form toreach people with the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
And we never force anybody, wenever twist arms, we never guilt
(02:54):
, we never shame.
We just say what the word ofGod says is that you just be a
cheerful giver and you just givewhatever the Lord lays on your
heart.
If you believe that, say yeah,here we go.
I just wanna say to everybodyhappy Super Bowl Sunday.
How many of y'all are wearing ajersey, your favorite team shirt
?
Raise your hand, let's go.
The church is the only placethat Georgia and Florida and
(03:16):
Tennessee and Alabama and Auburnand Georgia Tech and all these
different SEC ACC teams can gettogether and we like each other.
Amen, and we actually like eachother.
So how many of y'all tonightare going for the Philadelphia
Eagles?
You're going for the Eaglestonight?
Raise your hand.
I think about seven out of theEagles are Georgia Bulldogs.
I think six or seven areAlabama, former Alabama players.
(03:40):
So if you're for the Eagles, wejust say roll dogs, roll dogs.
There we go.
How many of y'all are going forthe Kansas City Swifties
tonight?
Raise your hand if you're a bigTaylor Swift fan.
There we go.
There we go.
We know the Eagles are playingagainst the NFL the refs tonight
.
We all know that.
Just kidding, just kidding.
We'll see if they three-peattonight the Kansas City Chiefs,
(04:00):
We'll see what happens.
But welcome, this is our JerseySunday.
We do this one time a year, andone thing that God just laid on
our heart is we wanted to makeour own First Baptist Church
Powder Springs jersey.
So we did it and we put 99 onit.
Why?
Because we believe that Jesusleft the 99 to find me and Jesus
left the 99 to find you, andwe're all a part of one team.
(04:21):
We're all a part of Team Jesus.
Can I get an amen?
We're all a part of Team Jesustogether, and so I want you to
know this week you can pre-orderyour own First Baptist Church
Powder Springs jersey If youwould like one.
We're only offering pre-ordersales this week.
From what I understand, I thinkthey're just 50 bucks cheapest
jersey you'll ever buy.
But we're not making any moneyoff of them.
(04:43):
We're just charging what theycost.
So we'd love for you to.
You can go online fbcpsorgslash jersey or the QR code.
It'll be on our social media,it'll be on our website.
Whatever, we would love for youto get one and to be a part of
all that.
And why are we doing it?
Because we believe the focusthat God has given us this year,
our 2025 focus, is that wewould develop our people and
(05:08):
develop our ministries for localand global mission.
In other words, that God woulduse you and that God would use
me, that God would use us sothat other people can come to
know Jesus like we've come toknow Jesus.
If you believe that, say yeah,and that's what we want for God
to do.
Let's pray and we'll dive inGod's word.
Heavenly Father, we love youand God.
(05:28):
We, just as we love to prayevery Sunday, god, we just
proclaim that we are your people, god, that this is your word
and Father, that you are our Godand God, that we want your work
because we are your church andGod.
We, we want your work becausewe are your church and God.
We want your will to be done sothat your glory can come.
God, we love you and we prayAll these things in Jesus' name,
(05:51):
and all God's people said, andall God's people said Amen, here
we go.
How many of y'all have everheard of the seven wonders of
the world?
We all heard of the sevenwonders of the world before.
Did you know that these are theseven, what they would call the
seven ancient wonders of theworld?
The Great Pyramid of Giza, theHanging Gardens of Babylon, the
Statue of Zeus, the Temple ofArtemis at Ephesus, the
(06:13):
Mausoleum, the Colossus, theLighthouse at Alexandria.
These are all of the sevenancient wonders of the world.
Only one of them actually stillexists, that's the Great
Pyramid, and even some otherswere even debated whether or not
they really existed, like theHanging Gardens of Babylon.
They got back together in 2007because all of the other ones
(06:34):
were destroyed besides thepyramid.
And now, in 2007, they saidhere are the new seven wonders
of the world the Great Wall ofChina, petra in Jordan, christ
the Redeemer in Brazil, machuPicchu which is just fun to say
in Peru, chichen Itza in Mexico,the Roman Coliseum in Italy and
the Taj Mahal in India.
Took me all week to learn those.
(06:54):
So there you go.
Those are the new, modern sevenwonders of the world.
Now, isn't it interesting that,out of the ancient seven wonders
of the world, only one of themstill exist, and out of the
modern, there was a day thatnone of them existed.
In other words, often what theworld calls wonderful is not
eternal.
Often what the world callswonderful is not eternal.
(07:15):
See, the world loves to seethings that human hands have
made, but when we worship whathuman hands make, then we don't
worship what is eternal, whatonly God can make out of his
power.
And so what I want us to seethis morning is a better list of
seven than the seven wonders ofthe world.
(07:37):
In fact, there are a lot ofthings that are in list of seven
.
You ever thought about this?
There are seven continents onthe earth.
There are seven days ofcreation, seven continents on
the earth.
There are seven days ofcreation seven days in every
week.
There are seven colors in everyrainbow.
There's only seven musicalnotes in the musical scale.
Snow White had seven dwarfs andTaco Bell had a seven layer
burrito amen.
So there's a lot of sevens.
(07:59):
When you score a touchdown, getan extra point.
You get seven points.
But this morning, what I wantto talk to you about is from the
series that we're calling theRed Letters.
We're talking about it allmonth long, all February, what
Jesus really said, what Jesusreally taught.
Do we understand what Jesusreally said?
Do you understand what Jesusreally meant by what he said?
(08:22):
This morning I wanna show youwhat we see in God's word that's
called the seven I amstatements of Jesus.
Everybody say seven, the seven Iam statements of Jesus.
Jesus made these sevenstatements, beginning with I am,
that are absolutelylife-changing.
Why are they life-changing?
They're life-changing becausejust those seven I am statements
(08:44):
tell you everything you need toknow about Jesus and they also
answer the seven biggest needsin your life today and
throughout all of your life.
In fact, those seven I amstatements from Jesus they
basically boil down to becauseJesus is the I am, you don't
have to try to be.
You're free from trying to be.
(09:05):
You're free from trying to beeverything in your own life.
You're free from trying to beeverything in everybody else's
life, because you can't do it.
Jesus is the I am because youare the I'm, not because I am
the I'm not.
So where did these seven I amstatements even come from?
The first time we see that Godused the name I am was in Exodus
(09:30):
, chapter three, verse 14.
God said to Moses I am who I am.
And he said say this to thepeople of Israel that the I am
has sent me to you.
In other words, this was Moses.
First 40 years in Moses' life,he was in Egypt.
Second 40 years of Moses' lifehe was in Midian.
This is the end of his second40 years and the beginning of
(09:52):
his third 40 years.
God came to him at the age of 80.
And God said Moses, you don'tknow me, but here I am and I'm
gonna save you and I'm gonnacall you to lead my people out
of slavery in Egypt, through thewilderness and into the
promised land.
And Moses said God, I don'tknow who you are and obviously
(10:13):
you don't know who I am, becausenobody would ever call me to do
something as huge as that.
And God said I'm not callingyou because of who you are, I'm
calling you because of who I am.
And Moses said I'm not callingyou because of who you are, I'm
calling you because of who I am.
And Moses said who are you?
Who do I tell them that you are?
When I go to Israel and sayfollow me?
When I go to Pharaoh and I say,let him go, who do I tell them.
(10:34):
And God said just tell him thatI am, the I am, and the I am has
sent me to you.
Do you know what I am means?
The I am means that God iseternal.
In the Hebrew, I am could betranslated I have been or I am
or I will be.
That God is eternal, he is theGod of yesterday and today and
(10:56):
tomorrow, that God has existedall the way into eternity past
and that God will always existall the way into eternity future
.
There has never been a timethat God did not exist, which
means that you can trust himbecause he's always been there.
And not only has he always beenthere, he's always been there
for you.
If you believe that, say yeah,we see that God, not only is he
(11:18):
eternal, but God is alsoself-existent, which means that
he does not depend on anythingor anyone else in order to exist
.
Like I do, like you do, I thinkabout my kids, right, I think
about my kids and they would notbe alive if it was not for me,
but mostly my wife.
Because what is the name of thegame of parenting?
(11:38):
It's not thriving, it'ssurviving.
Can I get an amen?
Like you're?
Just keeping them alive is allyou're doing, but God is
self-existent.
God doesn't find life inanything or in anyone else.
God himself is life.
He's self-existent and you canbelieve.
Also, the I am means that Godis unchanging, which means he's
consistent, which means God isnot moody and God is not Judy
(12:02):
Attitudy.
Can I get an amen Like Goddoesn't have bad days and he
doesn't have good days, but Godis always the same.
God is who he is, yesterday,today and forever.
In fact, god told Moses inExodus 3, this is to be my name
forever and thus I am to beremembered throughout all
generations in this way.
(12:23):
So could it be that Jesus gavehis I am statements to fulfill
that passage of scripture thatforever God would be known as
the I am, because Jesus came onthe scene saying that he is the
I am.
In John, chapter eight, verse 58, jesus said to them this is
(12:43):
Jesus talking to the Pharisees,or the religious people of the
day, the people that did notbelieve in Jesus, but they just
wanted religion in their life.
Jesus said to them truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham
was I.
Am you ever heard someone saythat Jesus never really called
(13:04):
himself God in the Bible?
This is Jesus not just sayingthat he's God.
This is Jesus saying that he isthe God who also showed up to
Moses at the burning bush,calling him to go and free the
Israelites from slavery.
In other words, jesus is sayingI am the eternal, unchanging,
self-existent God.
(13:24):
In the very next verse, becausethe Jews understood what he was
saying.
I am the eternal, unchanging,self-existent God.
In the very next verse, becausethe Jews understood what he was
saying.
The very next verse, they werepicking up stones to stone him
for blasphemy.
Or my favorite, john, chapter 18, verse four through six.
This is when Judas had gotten aband of soldiers and Jewish
warriors and council people andthey came to arrest Jesus.
(13:47):
He said they came with weaponsand torches and all these type
things.
And they came and it says thenJesus, knowing all that was
about to happen to him, as theycame to Jesus, jesus just boldly
stepped forward to them and hesaid who are you looking for?
Whom do you seek?
They answered him and they saidwe're looking for Jesus of
(14:08):
Nazareth.
And Jesus said to them I am he.
Judas who betrayed him, wasstanding there with those people
and I love this.
And when Jesus said to them Iam he, they all, the soldiers
and these religious people,those who are coming to
overpower and arrest Jesus.
The Bible says that they alldrew back and they fell to the
(14:32):
ground.
Why?
Because we, in that passage,get to see the power of the I am
of Jesus.
If you see it, say yeah, we getto see the power of the I am of
Jesus.
So when I read these I amstatements to you, just know
that these are Jesus'sdeclarations of who he is and
what he promises to do and whathe promises to be in your life.
(14:58):
Jesus is saying these arepowerful enough to give you life
and to answer the second, theseven biggest needs of your life
.
Here we go.
Jesus said I am the light ofthe world.
Everybody say light.
He said I'm the light of theworld, verse 12.
And again Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
(15:18):
world, whoever 12.
And again Jesus spoke to themsaying I am the light of the
world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness but will have
the light.
Everybody say light, but willhave the light of life.
I wonder if you're coming heretoday and maybe you're someone
that you feel like, that you'restuck in darkness, maybe you
feel like you're battling sin,battling depression.
(15:39):
Maybe you feel really confusedin darkness.
Maybe you feel like you'rebattling sin, battling
depression.
Maybe you feel really confusedin life.
Maybe you feel like you'refacing uncertainty, you're
feeling lost, you're unsureabout the future.
Maybe you feel trapped in guiltor in shame.
Maybe you feel trapped in thedarkness today of addiction and
you just can't break it.
You just can't get out of itand you feel all of that anxiety
or even suicidal in your life.
And you just can't break it.
You just can't get out of itand you feel all of that anxiety
or even suicidal in your life.
(16:01):
And you are wondering how do Iget answers, how do I get
clarity?
How do I get out of this?
How do I escape my darkness,the darkness of our life?
I need you to hear me say thatJesus is not only saying that he
is the light of the world.
He's also saying that he is theonly one who can lead you out
of your darkness.
(16:22):
He's the only one who can leadyou out of your darkness.
Who is he saying this to?
There was a woman in that daywho was known as an adulterous
woman, possibly the mostadulterous woman of that town of
that city that everybody knewabout.
And finally the Pharisees, thereligious people, caught her and
they got her and they were allgoing to stone her because they
(16:42):
felt like they were so righteousthat they had the right to
stone her in front of everyonebecause of her sin.
And Jesus, out of his love,swooped in and Jesus walked over
and he stopped them and he saidwhoever is without sin, let him
be the one to cast the firststone.
They all dropped their stonesand they left.
Why?
Because Jesus came in as thelight of the world and he
(17:05):
stepped into her darkness, justlike he stepped into your
darkness, just like he steppedinto my darkness, so that he
could be your light and my lightand our light.
Put your hands together forJesus, as he is the light of the
world.
So I would encourage you.
What do you do about this?
You ask Jesus to be your light.
Jesus, would you shine yourlight on the darkness of my life
(17:28):
?
Whatever that situation lookslike for you?
You call on Jesus and you askhim to shine his light into your
darkness.
Secondly, jesus said I am thedoor.
Everyone say door John 10, nine.
Jesus said I am the door.
Everyone say door.
John 10, nine.
Jesus said I'm the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved and will go in and out
(17:48):
and find pasture.
Who is he speaking to?
Maybe you're here this morningand you've come and you just
feel rejected.
Or maybe in your life you'venever fully felt accepted by
anyone, wherever you go.
Maybe you always feel like anoutsider.
Maybe you don't typically feelwelcomed or wanted or invited.
(18:10):
Or maybe you're someone hereand you've tried so many paths,
other religions.
Maybe you've tried self-help,maybe you have even tried
success, but you still feel lostand Jesus is saying to you that
he is your door.
Back then the shepherds would becalled a door, would be called
a gate, because when they wouldtake their sheep out and they
(18:32):
would be wandering thewilderness for they would be
grazing the pastures or tryingto find water and literally when
the sheep would stop and theywould gather them all together,
the shepherd would put them backagainst a rock or back against
a tree or whatever it might be,and the shepherd would sleep or
rest in front of them so thatwolves couldn't get in to the
(18:53):
sheep and that sheep couldn'tget out to the wolves.
In other words, they called theshepherd, the door or the gate,
and that's who Jesus is is.
He is protecting you from Satangetting to you and he's
protecting you from you gettingto Satan.
He's protecting sin to you.
He's protecting you from sinfrom you and he is protecting
you as your door.
(19:14):
In other words, jesus is notjust a door, he is the door door
.
In other words, jesus is notjust a door, he is the door.
He's the only door.
He's the only door that opensup a relationship with God.
He's the only door that opensup the way into the kingdom of
God, the way into the kingdom ofheaven, the way into eternal
(19:35):
life, the way that you werecreated to live and I was
created to live.
And here's what Jesus iscalling us to do, because he's
the door.
He's just asking us to continueto walk up to him, to continue
to approach him, to continue tocome to him, to continue to see
him, as he is the only way foryou to live the life that God
(19:57):
has created you to live.
Number three Jesus said I'm theway, I'm the truth and I'm the
life.
Everyone say life.
He said I'm the way, I'm thetruth and I'm the life.
John 14, six Jesus said I'm theway, I'm the truth and I'm the
life.
And he said no one comes to theFather.
Jesus said, except through me.
(20:19):
What gives Jesus the right tosay that, out of all religions,
out of all faiths, out of allways to believe, out of all
things to be a part of differentreligions, what gives Jesus the
right to say that he is theonly way, that he is the only
truth, that he is the only life?
I'll tell you why.
Because Jesus is the only onewho has stepped down out of
heaven, who has taken on humanflesh.
(20:40):
Jesus is the only one who livedyour life in your place,
sinlessly and fully righteously.
Jesus is the only one who wentto the cross and he suffered and
he bore your sin.
The Bible says that he becameyour sin.
The Bible says that he washumbled and he was humiliated.
And the Bible says that he hungon the cross and he died for
your sin.
And the Bible says that he washumbled and he was humiliated.
And the Bible says that he hungon the cross and he died for
(21:01):
your sin.
And he died for my sin.
He was put in a grave for threedays and he rose from the dead
three days later, he's the onlyone who was raised from the dead
.
Put your hands together becauseJesus is the way, he's the truth
and he's the life.
And he speaks this to peoplethat maybe you've come here
today and you're just strugglingin your life with just doubt or
(21:22):
skepticism, or maybe justspiritual confusion.
Maybe you wonder am I really onthe right path, on the real
path to experience God?
Maybe you feel lost in thechaos of different worldviews
and religions and faiths.
Maybe you come today as aperson struggling what to
believe and how to live.
Maybe you just noticed that ourworld is full of self-help and
(21:46):
self-discovery andself-improvement, but you notice
that Jesus just doesn't saythat he is a way and he doesn't
call you to find your own way,and he doesn't even ask you to
find your way to him.
But Jesus says that he is theway, jesus says that he is the
truth and Jesus says that he isthe life and that no one comes
(22:07):
to the Father who is God, theFather but through Jesus.
And so here's what I wouldencourage you to do today with
this is just call on Jesus andjust talk to him and say Jesus,
I believe that you are my way,jesus, I believe that you are my
way, jesus.
I believe that you are thetruth, jesus.
I believe that you are my life,and there are oftentimes in my
life that I need to confess toJesus.
(22:27):
Say, jesus, I'm sorry for thetimes that I live my own way,
that I don't believe your truthand that I don't live your life.
Number four very quickly, jesussaid I'm the good shepherd.
John 10, 11,.
He said I am the good shepherd.
He said the good shepherd laysdown his life for the sheep.
Aren't you thankful?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusgave his life for you before he
(22:50):
asked you to give your life tohim, that Jesus gave your life
for you before he asked you togive your life to him?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusloves you enough that he would
lay his life down for you?
That asked you to give yourlife to him?
Aren't you thankful that Jesusloves you enough that he would
lay his life down for you?
That is Jesus dying for yoursin.
John 10, 14,.
He said I am the good shepherd,I know my own and they know me.
In other words, maybe you'rehere today and you have felt
(23:13):
abandoned in your life, or maybebefore, you have felt betrayed,
or maybe you've felt loneliness, maybe you're struggling with
trust issues or maybe evenwondering does God really care?
Maybe you feel unworthy becauseof the mistakes that you have
made, maybe you're just goingthrough a major life decision
and I think that there issomething so critical in our
(23:33):
life just to call on Jesus asour good shepherd and to say
Jesus, I just need you to loveme right now, jesus.
I need you to protect me rightnow, jesus.
I need you to empower me rightnow, jesus.
I need you to provide for meright now, jesus.
I need your care right now,jesus.
I believe this in Jesus.
(23:54):
I need it in my life, righthere, right now.
Number five Jesus said I am thebread of life.
Everyone say bread.
Jesus said I am the livingbread that came down from heaven
.
If anyone eats of this bread,he will live forever and if the
bread that I will give for thelife of the world is my flesh,
(24:17):
in other words, jesus isspeaking to those of us, as I
have felt this way in your life,and I'm sure you have too that
you feel empty, unfulfilled,dissatisfied with life, maybe
chasing success, chasingromantic relationships, chasing
material possessions and stillfeeling like there's something
(24:38):
more, never having enough.
Maybe you've come today andyou're struggling with addiction
, constantly searching forsomething to fill that hole, to
fill that void in your life.
Maybe you just feel spirituallydry or just simply distant from
God.
And Jesus is saying I'm yourbread.
Jesus is saying I'm yourspiritual nourishment.
(25:01):
Back then bread was the mainstaple of all their food.
They didn't have all thegrocery stores and all the
restaurants and all thedifferent options like we have
today.
They would typically eat a fewfruits and a few vegetables and
a lot of bread for theirsustenance.
And Jesus is saying I am allthat you need.
Jesus is saying it's not gonnabe the drink, it's not gonna be
(25:21):
the drug, it's not gonna be theromance, it's not gonna be the
money, it's not gonna be thesuccess, it's not gonna be
anything that's going to satisfyyou.
He said you're gonna try it allyour life and you're gonna come
down to the end of your lifeempty, because I'm the only one
that can fulfill and I cansatisfy the soul that I've
(25:42):
created within you, that canonly be filled by me.
Jesus is saying that he is thebread of life.
Number six Jesus saying that Iam the vine.
Everyone say vine.
John 15 one says I am the truevine.
Jesus said and my father is thevine dresser.
John 15, five.
Jesus said I am the true vine.
Jesus said and my father is thevine dresser.
John 15, 5,.
Jesus said I am the vine and you, speaking about us, his
(26:03):
disciples, you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I inhim, it is he that bears much
fruit.
For apart from me, you can donothing.
Maybe you come here thismorning and you just feel burnt
out, disconnected, spirituallyweak, struggling in your faith,
(26:25):
feeling far from God, trying todo on your own, but you feel
exhausted.
Maybe you just want to godeeper and deeper and deeper,
but you just feel like you can't.
Jesus is saying the only waythat you can be empowered to
truly live this life, foreverything that you are going
through, and yet still to bearfruit, even through the
(26:46):
difficulty, even through thesuffering, even through the
struggling, even through thehurt, even through the doubt.
Jesus is saying you're thebranch, I'm the vine.
Stay connected to me, stay inmy word, stay in prayer to me,
because Jesus is saying eventhrough all of the craziness, I
still wanna bear fruit throughyou, I still want to empower you
(27:10):
.
I still want you to experienceme and I want you to minister to
others on my behalf and for myname.
And last number seven.
Jesus said I am theresurrection and the life.
Everyone say resurrection.
Jesus is the resurrection andthe life.
John 11, 25.
Jesus said to her I'm theresurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, thoughhe die yet, he shall live.
(27:33):
He's talking to Martha and Mary.
Lazarus had just died.
Jesus is there at the tomb.
And then Jesus says Lazarus,come forth.
And he came forth and he wasreally dead.
And the way we know he wasreally dead was they actually
said man, he stinks, he comeswalking out of the grave.
Man, he stinks.
And Jesus literally raised himto life.
(27:58):
Just like Jesus alone can raiseyou from the dead the day that
you die, who else can do thatfor you?
Who else has promised that foryou?
Only Jesus is the resurrectionand the life.
Are you coming here today andyou're wondering what happens
after you die?
Are you trying to fiteverything into this life
(28:20):
because you feel like this isyour only shot?
Have you lost a loved one andyou feel like you'll never see
him again?
Are you facing a disease thatyou're seeing the end of your
life approach.
Jesus is speaking to you thismorning and Jesus is saying I am
your resurrection and I am yourlife, and I want you to see all
(28:44):
of this put together.
I've actually never seen it putin this order before, but this
is just the order that God gaveme for you today.
I want you to see this.
I want you to ask yourself, asthis is the beginning of our
life, that Jesus gives us lightto be able to see him and to see
the way all the way throughbecoming our door.
Then he becomes the way, thetruth and the life.
Jesus becomes our good shepherd, and then Jesus satisfies us,
(29:07):
and then Jesus empowers usthrough spiritual fruitfulness,
and then Jesus assures us thathe is our resurrection and our
life.
My question for you is thiswhere are you on this trajectory
of life?
What is Jesus?
Which one is Jesus saying toyou today?
Which one is he saying to youtoday?
Because he's your great I am.
(29:29):
Jesus fulfills every need.
He fulfills every desire, need.
He fulfills every desire.
He is your and he is my.
Everything.
He is the I am.
But I also want to ask anotherquestion who you know in your
(29:50):
life?
What names would you put toeach of these that Jesus could
use you to go and tell them thathe is exactly what they've been
looking for?
And who is it that you couldminister to and who is it that
you could witness to?
(30:13):
Because these seven I amstatements are what our entire
life is built off of, thefoundation of our life.
Just like I told you earlier,seven, there are only seven,
musical notes, that every song,every symphony, every concert,
all the way from Amazing Graceto Handel's Messiah, to the
(30:34):
sound of music, to rock and roll, country music, pop music, hip
hop and soul, even just rightnow, I want you to hear just
these seven musical notes, thatevery song is built off of this
(30:56):
musical scale that the band'sjust going to play for you right
now, as God designed music andevery song is built off of just
(31:23):
seven notes.
Your life is built off of sevenstatements that Jesus has made.
I'm going to ask you just tobow your heads and close your
eyes and the band continues toplay.
And wherever it is in your life, and the band continues to play
Wherever it is in your life, Ijust want you to tell Jesus
Jesus, I believe that you are mylight of the world, my door, my
(31:48):
way, my truth, my life.
Jesus, you're my good shepherd.
Jesus, you're my bread of life.
Jesus, you're my vine.
Jesus, you're my resurrectionand you, you're my resurrection
and you're my life.
Maybe you're here this morningand you've never really, truly
fully given your life to him.
Right here, right now, I wannagive you that opportunity.
(32:09):
I can't pray this for you and Ican't save you, but I wanna
help you through this prayerthat you can pray to God, and
God promises that he'll on thecross for my sins and I ask you
to forgive me of all my sin.
And God, I believe that Jesusrose from the dead and rose
again from the dead, and I askyou to forgive me of all my sins
and I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins.
(32:30):
And I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins.
And I ask you to forgive me ofall my sins and I ask you to on
the cross for my sins and I askyou to forgive me of all my sin.
And God, I believe that Jesusrose from the dead and he's
alive and I give my life to him.
I follow him with my life, andthe Bible says if you confess
with your mouth that Jesus isLord and believe with your heart
(32:52):
that God raised him from thedead, you will be saved.
So, right here, right now, callon Jesus to be your Lord, your
God, your Savior, youreverything.
He is your great.
I am God.
We thank you for that truth.
We thank you for this promiseof salvation, god, we believe it
(33:13):
and we pray these things inJesus' name, and all God's
people said Amen.
Would you put your handstogether for anybody that prayed
that prayer that gave theirlife to Jesus?
Today we just want to saywelcome to the family, welcome
home.
We believe that God saved youand there is right now, on the
back of the chair in front ofyou.
There's a next step card.
I would encourage you just tograb that.
(33:34):
Fill it out With.
There's a next step card.
I would encourage you just tograb that.
Fill it out with any decisionthat you have to make.
Maybe you want to give yourlife to Jesus.
Maybe you need to get baptized.
Maybe God is calling you tomake any other of those
decisions.
You can do that on the card.
You can come and hand it to meor take it to our next step
station or put it in any of ourblack boxes around here.
We just want to help you inyour walk with Jesus.
Can we stand together?
(33:54):
We're gonna pray one more timebefore we worship him together.
Let's pray right now.
Heavenly Father, we love you,jesus.
We thank you that you are ourgreat I am, jesus.
Thank you that you are thelight of the world, jesus.
Thank you that you're our door,jesus.
Thank you that you're our way,our truth and our life, jesus.
Thank you that you're our bread, jesus.
(34:16):
Thank you that you're our goodshepherd, our vine, jesus.
You are the resurrection andthe life.
We give you all of the glory.
We believe in the power of youbeing the great I am.
We believe that that changesour lives forever.
It is the foundation of ourlife every single day, and we
pray that we would believe inyou in that way and that we
(34:37):
would tell others about you aswell.
Jesus, we love you.
We sing to you In Jesus' name.
We pray.
Let's sing to him together.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com